Congratulations, Jeri!

Jeri Smith-Ready's novel Wicked Game just won (and by "just", I mean she announced it on Facebook about a half hour ago) a PRISM Award for Light Paranormal Romance. The awards are presented by the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The news is too fresh to actually have a link to yet, but here's a list of this year's nominees.


I should also mention that I just finished the sequel to Wicked Game, Bad to the Bone (which you can still see a link to on the upper righthand corner of the blog, for another week or so, at least). First of all, it's just plain fun to read, and I spent most of Monday afternoon finishing it. The characters and the environment (vampires pyschologically frozen in the era they "died", hiding in plain sight, spinning tunes at a vampire-themed radio station) progress in interesting and entertaining ways, as we start to see how romance with a vampire is one thing, but day-to-day living with him is another. It's got a satisfying plot, some great snarky dialogue, and a lot of blood-fueled rock-n-roll fun. Plus a Big Honkin' Cross that's more dangerous than it seems.

But the main thing is, Wicked Game won. That's huge. Congratulations, Jeri.

Rob

Tuesday is Bad to the Bone Day

In case you didn't notice the little doohickey on the right side of the blog (I'm talking to you, one-eyed Pete), Jeri Smith-Ready's Bad to the Bone is finally shipping on Tuesday. It's the sequel to Wicked Game, in which a group of time-stuck vampires have established a radio station playing music from their various eras. (Jeri's actually got an online radio station set up for the vamps... she really goes all-out.)

Anyway, the new book's coming out on Tuesday, and for once I haven't read an earlier draft -- so I'm going to be just as surprised as you are when I first crack the spine. But here's what I've got to go on -- this glowing review from Publisher's Weekly:

In Smith-Ready’s espionage farce sequel to 2008’s Wicked Game, Ciara Griffin and her vampire DJs face another threat to their Maryland radio station 94.3 WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll. When the Family Action Network (FAN) disrupts WVMP’s Halloween broadcast by pirating their signal and jamming it with antivampire rhetoric, Ciara swears revenge. Under the aegis of the International Agency for the Control and Management of Undead Corporeal Entities, Ciara turns spy and infiltrates the cult’s fortress, armed with her wits and her vampire-healing “antiholy” blood. Aiding her are a crew of hip vamp buddies and vampire dog Dexter, whom she rescues after finding him chained to a cross outside a FAN enclave. Smith-Ready pours plenty of fun into her charming, fang-in-cheek urban fantasy, which frequently skirts the edge of parody.

A vampire dog, man. That's badass.

So do yourself a favor and bring Bad to the Bone to the beach or pool this summer. Anywhere there's lots of sun. Because if there are vampire dogs, I think you pretty much have to watch out for anything.

Rob